Page 103 of Deadly Alliances

“Row,” he replied in a lazy, almost grumpy middle C.

I chuckled, savoring the engine-like revving of his purr.

His ears stood high, and he raised his head to look at the door. Though I was semi-confident that it wasn’t Marguerite, fear still gripped me for an instant before I recognized the soft cadence of Shea’s footsteps approaching in the hall.

The lock clicked, and Shea rushed discreetly inside. She turned around to smile at me with bated exhilaration, then ran across the room to throw her arms around my neck. I managed to awkwardly hug her back despite the cuffs, delighting in the warmth of her skin and her perfect scent that enveloped me. Rainbow gave a crankychuffat being squished between us.

Shea pulled away abruptly, nervously looking around the room. “Marguerite?”

I smirked. “I suggested she go down to the lab to inquire about her…eating disorder. She’s quite concerned about it.”

She gave a little squeal of amusement. “That’s awesome. Hopefully that buys us enough time, but we still have to be quick. First, let’s get these cuffs off you.”

“Yes, please,” I groaned dramatically, lifting my bound wrists between us.

“Sahad,” she said.

I could taste the magic in the air as it worked inside the small chambers of the locks, then the vile, poisonous cuffs sprang open. I eagerly shook them off, rubbing my chafed wrists with unbridled satisfaction.

She put her hands over my wrists and whispered, “Tuer em anekh.”

A cool, refreshing sensation spread up my arms, over my chest and down my legs, and I surrendered to it, marveling at the feeling. “What was that?”

“I purified your blood of the copper,” she said, love pouring through her emerald eyes. “You should be at your full strength now. Oh, but first—”

She dug through her shoulder bag and tossed me a plastic bag. I looked down to see that it was a medical grade blood bag, the dark crimson liquid making my mouth water.

“Where did you get this?” None of the vampires did blood bags here, and I knew she couldn’t have possibly gone to some hospital or blood donation site overnight.

“Piper,” she replied.

A mixture of humility and hesitation washed through me, smoothing my expression. “But I always refused to drink from her.”

“She knows. But we don’t exactly have time for you to drink from me, you know, considering how that usually turns out.” She blushed, and guilt twisted in my gut. “Consider this her gift to you.”

She must have seen the reticence on my face because she urged, “Well, go on, down it.”

Pushing aside the numerous conflicting feelings I had about this whole situation, I sunk my teeth into the thick plastic and sucked as hard as I could, drinking too quickly to truly enjoy the meal.

As I finished it off, she whispered a few more foreign words I didn’t understand, and warmth flooded over me. It was both familiar and unique. I knew I’d experienced this feeling before, but it was different, like the warmth that spread through me came from within rather than without.

“There. I reversed the binding on your daywalking ability,” she said. “You should be able to move freely in the sun again. You’regoing to need it.”

“You’re amazing,” I confessed. I tossed the bag onto the bed and leaned in to kiss her.

The feel of her soft, pliable lips on mine made this moment all the more jubilant, but I knew I couldn’t enjoy it just yet. We had to get out of here before we could celebrate.

“Let’s go,” I whispered as I drew away. I gathered up Rainbow, tucking him under my left arm, and we hopped off the bed and crept out the door.

I couldn’t help but marvel at my renewed strength as we swept down the hallway toward the stairs. My muscles practically sang with the fresh blood envigorating them and lack of copper inhibiting them. I could hardly remember the last time I could see and hear so crisply, could make even the slightest movement without struggle or pain. I wouldn’t take my power or clarity for granted ever again.

“Remind me how many people we’re breaking out?” I asked as we entered the winding staircase. She had told me a rushed version of her plan last night, but we hadn’t exactly had time to go over specifics with so many eyes and ears so close.

“You, Arya, Alex, Tobias, Char, and Piper. Oh, and Rainbow,” she added breathily as she began to pant with exertion from the climb.

“Six of us total,” I calculated. “And your plan is to have us fly away on the backs of two dragons and one gryphon?”

“Well, Arya has her own wings,” Shea panted. “Alex is ten and weighs about as much as a toothpick. And Piperisa toothpick.”

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